The Boa Esperança deposit crops out as an isolated hill, which is a north–northeast elongated. The topographic high is formed by quartz and magnetite breccias, which cut the Neoarchean biotite granite, the host of the copper mineralization. (2.85 Ga). The Boa Esperança deposit extends for approximately 850 meters in a WSW-ENE direction, for 640 meters in NNW-SSE direction, and is currently known to a depth of 780 meters below surface through drilling. It has a steep SE plunge and remains open in this direction. The deposit is hosted in a series of breccias cross-cutting a granite intrusion. Mineralization consists of a series of brecciated zones, which are aligned N60°–70°E and dips to the southeast at 60°–70. An alignment of approximately N40°E can be observed in the field and coincides with the strike direction of the Boa Esperança hill. The breccias are concentrated around the top of the hill, occupying an area of approximately 450 x 350 m. The copper mineralization, based on drilling to date, has a geometric shape similar to an inverted cone. Currently known mineralization lies between elevations of 350 m to -200 masl. The breccias are distributed throughout the barren pink granite lenses. The Boa Esperança deposit displays primary and secondary zoning. The primary zoning corresponds to a distal zone, where pyrite (py) dominates, grading towards copper mineralized zones of pyrite–chalcopyrite (py–cpy), chalcopyrite–pyrite (cpy–py) and chalcopyrite (cpy). The secon ........

The planned Boa Esperança mine will use conventional open pit mining techniques and diesel mining equipment to mine a total of 203 Mt of material over the LOM. This will consist of 54 Mt of ore and 149 Mt of waste material. Selective mine practices will be applied avoiding dilution. The operation will include normal drilling, blasting loading with 5.2 m3/3.9m3 (waste/ore) backhoe configured excavator and 38 t conventional trucks over an 8 m bench height (double bench of 16 m in fresh rock in interim and final slopes). Mining will be performed on a sub-bench of flitch basis to improve selectivity.

The mine plan was developed by NCL. The plan is focused on a single mine area, mined through consecutive mining phases or pushbacks. The mill throughput is based on an economic throughput assessment study, resulting in an average throughput of 4.0 Mtpa of sulphide ore and a ramp-up period of 12 months that assumes a production rate of 3.2 Mt in the first year of production. Production starts during the second quarter of Year 1 to avoid the rainy season.

The required pre-stripping amounts to 13.2 Mt, and activities have been scheduled over 24 months, starting in Year -2 quarter 2, through Year 1 quarter 1. The mining schedule requires an average mine extraction of 20 Mtpa. The mine movement decreases from Year 10 until the mining operations are completed in Year 12.

The mine is scheduled to work on a seven-days-a-week, three 8-hour shift basis, for 365 ........

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